Tuesday 21 June 2022

Swavesey Roll of Honour (The Great War)

Sometime in the mid 1990s I decided to find out more about the men on the local war memorial in Swavesey, Cambridgeshire - which is where I was living at the time. It was pre-internet so my starting point was the local phone book and microfiche newspaper records. When the internet did arrive, I learnt to write HTML and published my findings online. This opened up a whole new world for me - leading to many friendships, loads of battlefield walking and, eventually, a Masters in Military History at the University of Birmingham. Having cleaned up my old website I thought I'd make my findings available through my blog. 

The Roll of Honour of Swavesey Men who were Killed in Action, or who Died from Wounds or Disease in the Great War, 1914 - 1919

"Their name liveth for evermore"

The Memorial Hall, Swavesey, Cambridgeshire

1.

George Brooks1st East Lancashire Regt.Killed in Action 14 Nov.,1914
Henry Beaumont7th Canadian InfantryMissing, believed Killed 24-26 April,1915
Jonas Dodson11th Suffolk Regt.Missing, believed killed 1 July,1916
James William Prior11th Suffolk Regt.Missing, believed killed 1 July,1916
Wilfred Hepher, D.C.M.Royal EngineersKilled in Action 15 Sep.,1916
Walter Neal1st Bedford Regt.Died of Wounds 12 Sept.,1916
George Henry Norman7th R.W.Kent Regt.Died of Wounds 3 Oct.,1916
Alfred Aaron Linford11th Suffolk Regt.Killed in Action 28 April,1917
James William Hepher11th Suffolk Regt.Missing, believed killed 28 April,1917
James Harold Parish11th R.W.Kent Regt.Killed in Action 1 Aug.,1917
Samuel John Froment10th Queen's (R.W.S.) Regt.Killed in Action 5 Aug.,1917
Walter Metcalf11th R.W.Kent Regt.missing, believed killed 20 Sept.,1917
Henry George GravesRoyal Garrison Art.Died of Wounds 25 March,1918
George Beaumont, MC13th East Surrey Regt.Died of Wounds 9 April,1918
Harold Charles Howlett11th Suffolk Regt.Missing, believed Killed 9-19 April,1918
William Harden5th Shropshire L.I.Died (Bronchitis) 29 april,1918
James William GoadRoyal Army Service CorpsDied (Dysentry) in Italy, 28 July,1918
Walter CoulsonRoyal EngineersDied of Wounds 2 Oct.,1918
Joseph Barker Parish1st East Kent Regt.Died of Wounds 11 Nov.,1918
Cyril George Hepher7th East Yorks. Regt.Died of Wounds 30 Nov.,1918
Alfred Large1/1st Yorkshire DragoonsDied (Pneumonia) 29 April, 1919

2.

Watson Trundley

1st Royal Scots Fusiliers

Killed in Action 25 September.,1915

Herbert James Martin

2nd Suffolk Regt.

Killed in Action 30 Sept.,1915

Alfred Charles Dodson2nd Essex Regt.Killed in Action 15 Aug.,1918
Arthur George Ding4th Rifle brigadeDied of Wounds when Prisoner of War in Bulgaria,16 Aug.,1918
James William Wright2/7th W.Riding Regt.Killed in Action 1 Nov., 1918


The Swavesey Chronicles

Stories from a Fenland village during the 1914-1918 War

  •  John Symonds - An interesting account of  life in a POW camp following  Lance Corporal Symonds' capture on the 22nd March 1918 at the start of the Ludendorff Offensive. 

  • Arthur Beaumont - Arthur's own account of his wartime experiences. A fascinating supplement to "The Beaumont Boys".

  • Gunner G.E. Canham - A Swavesey man's experience with the guns in Mesopotamia.

  • The Memorial Hall - The story of how the Swavesey community viewed the war. Includes an analysis of developing media attitude and the response of various local institutions.

  • A series of recollections by F.C.Wood B.A.  Cantab. (now deceased). The writer was the son of Charley Wood, the school master. The family lived in the school house opposite the village playing field.